In a complicated world of school, students have discovered the “game changing” effects of using AI software to assist with classwork.
It’s a compelling choice. But what about their educators? Some are not sure what to make of it.
Is AI truly an aid to students, helping strengthen their academic abilities, or does it introduce more problems that outweigh the benefits?
Some local faculty at Ludlowe gave their thoughts. When asked about her initial opinions on students using artificial intelligence in the classroom, history teacher Ms. Marchello, said that “AI is a newer technology that us as teachers are still trying to understand.”
Ludlowe principal, Dr. Hatzis, shared his thoughts. “We have had many instances especially at the end of last year (2022-2023) when students became more familiar with [AI]”.
After talking to many of my peers, it seems that quite a few students take advantage of AI for assignments, however, what makes it noticeable to teachers? Ms. Marchello, a teacher whose classes depend on writing tasks, has had her fair share of encounters with AI. “I [typically] look at the sentence structure that is created by AI while also recognizing [the vocabulary of] the student”.
It’s also important to remember that “AI has a way of being formulaic in its sentences that typically do not match with the vocabulary of an 11th grader.” Dr. Hatzis also shared that during this uprise of AI in school, it became “obvious” to administrators. He shared with me that there are tools that staff can use to detect AI, however “it isn’t 100% reliable”, and there isn’t much else they can do.
So how can we take the negative stigma away from AI? Teachers think the only answer is to create more exposure to it. Dr. Hatzis believes that we should “embrace it as a tool to enhance education.” He also states that “we should start to establish an agreement of when it’s okay to use and when it’s not okay to use.”
Despite the uncertainties surrounding AI, there is also eagerness to create a better understanding of it and have more balance within its role of education.